Denver International Airport
Facts on DEN
Denver International Airport opened on February 28, 1995, 16 months behind schedule and costing $4.8 billion, replacing the old Stapleton Airport, whose closely spaced runways and lack of room to grow had caused chronic delays.
Source: Wikipedia
DEN's most infamous landmark is "Blucifer," a 32-foot bright-blue fiberglass mustang sculpture with glowing red eyes that greets drivers on Pena Boulevard; its sculptor, Luis Jimenez, was killed in 2006 when a section of the piece fell on him while he was still building it.
Source: Wikipedia
DEN's 33,531 acres make it by far the largest commercial airport by land area in North America, and its Runway 16R/34L stretches 16,000 feet -- the longest public-use runway in North America and the fifth-longest in the world.
Source: Wikipedia
DEN happened because Stapleton International Airport's runways sat too close together, causing chronic weather delays; Denver mayor Federico Peña struck a deal for the city to annex 54 square miles of neighboring Adams County for a new site, a plan Adams County voters approved in 1988.
Source: Wikipedia
The Jeppesen Terminal's peaked white fabric roof, designed by Fentress Bradburn Architects, is meant to evoke both the snow-capped Rockies and the teepees once found on the Great Plains; it's held up by a catenary steel cable system similar to the one used on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Source: Wikipedia
DEN's automated baggage system became a national punchline before the airport even opened: an April 1994 press demonstration ended with clothing and luggage scattered under the tracks, forcing the mayor to cancel a planned May 1994 opening. The system was finally abandoned altogether in September 2005.
Source: Wikipedia
DEN has been United Airlines' and Southwest Airlines' largest hub for years, and by 2024 had also overtaken Chicago O'Hare as United's single biggest hub; the airport carried an all-time-record 82,427,962 passengers in 2025.
Source: Wikipedia
Rather than fight the conspiracy theories that grew up around its art and construction delays, DEN leaned into them, opening a 'Conspiracy Theories Uncovered' exhibit in 2016 and installing an animatronic gargoyle that joked about the Illuminati -- a campaign the airport says generated over $8 million in revenue.
Source: Wikipedia
The Jeppesen Terminal is named for Elrey Borge Jeppesen, an aviation-safety pioneer; sculptor George Lundeen made a bronze statue of him called 'The Aviator,' and separately cast the bronze of Denver-born Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert that stands in Concourse B.
Source: Wikipedia
'Blue Mustang,' the 32-foot fiberglass horse nicknamed Blucifer, was one of DEN's earliest public art commissions in 1993; its glowing red eyes were actually a tribute by sculptor Luis Jimenez to his father, who once owned a neon-light shop in Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia